Edie Falco brightens ‘This Wide Night’

New British drama studies ex-cons trying to adjust to life outside

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

A bleak British drama regarding two women struggling to adjust to life after prison, "This Wide Night" is illuminated by the glowing humanity of Edie Falco's touching performance.

Anyone who admires Falco's work in "The Sopranos" and "Nurse Jackie" — and who doesn't? — will want to see the actress just as believably portray a totally contrasting woman from the British working class: Middle-aged Lorraine is a drab, hesitant, yet hopeful soul just sprung from 12 years in prison.

A couple of seats were vacant at a weekend preview at the 125-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, where the U.S. premiere of Chloe Moss' new drama opened Sunday, so perhaps you can still nab a ticket.

A relatively quiet study in grubby realism, the 90-minute "This Wide Night" is short on story but strong in character detail.

Lorraine unexpectedly arrives at the squalid studio flat occupied by Marie, a former cellmate. Marie's feelings about Lorraine are obviously mixed but they warm up over pizza and beer. Lorraine spends the night on the sofa-bed. Theirs is not a sexual connection, or is it?

The play's subsequent series of short scenes studies their relationship during the course of a week while gradually revealing their individual stories.

So what will happen when Lorraine reunites with the son she hasn't seen in a dozen years? If Marie is working at a pub like she claims, what's with the strange hours and kicky shoes?

Characterizing Lorraine with an uneasy laugh and anxious body language, Falco subtly conveys the lonely woman's eager need to bond with her old chum. She persuasively suggests Lorraine's inner resiliency despite her obvious uncertainty regarding the future. The natural human warmth that infuses Falco's acting is an especial pleasure to observe in an intimate piece of realism like "This Wide Night."

Briefly seen on Broadway as spunky Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker," Alison Pill portrays the withdrawn Marie as an essentially sweet but emotionally clamped-down individual given to outbursts of bitter hilarity and pain.

Director Anne Kauffman confidently stages the Naked Angels premiere with a realistically ratty set by Rachel Hauck, artful lighting by Matt Frey that shifts time very well and a sound design by Rob Kaplowitz that nicely renders both natural and mood-inducing effects. Although the play tends to be gloomy, Kauffman's production evokes a sense of somber beauty from within these people and their world.

"This Wide Night" continues through June 20 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 W. 42nd St., New York. Call (212) 279-4200 or visit www.nakedangels.com.